2026 Senior Executive Service pay range

OPM's Salary Table No. 2026-ES gives the 2026 SES range as $151,661 to $228,000 for "Agencies with a Certified SES Performance Appraisal System" and $151,661 to $209,600 for "Agencies without a Certified SES Performance Appraisal System", effective January 2026 (first pay period January 11, 2026). The two maximums are Executive Schedule levels II ($228,000) and III ($209,600); the minimum is the same in both rows.

Source: OPM, ES.xml (1,614 bytes, SHA-256 035619c55d1c…) from the 2026 Executive & Senior Level page, fetched October 18, 2026.

Basic Rates of Pay for Members of the Senior Executive Service, 2026

The SES has no grades or steps: OPM publishes a minimum and a maximum, and each agency sets an executive's rate within the range that applies to it.

OPM's footnote: Under a provision in the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2026 (November 12, 2025), the freeze on the payable pay rates for the Vice President and certain senior political appointees continues through January 30, 2026. Future Congressional action will determine whether these frozen rates continue beyond that date.

The range and its limits, as OPM states them

OPM's SES compensation page: "The Senior Executive Service (SES) is a performance-based pay system. The SES pay range has a minimum rate of basic pay equal to 120 percent of the rate for GS-15, step 1, and a maximum rate of basic pay equal to the rate for Level III of the Executive Schedule. SES members have an annual aggregate limitation on pay equal to the rate for Level I of the Executive Schedule. However, for any agency certified under 5 U.S.C. 5307(d) as having a performance appraisal system that, as designed and applied, makes meaningful distinctions based on relative performance, the maximum rate of basic pay will be the rate for Level II of the Executive Schedule. Also, agencies with certified SES performance appraisal systems must apply a higher aggregate limitation on pay--up to the Vice President's salary."

In 2026 GS-15 step 1 in the base table is $126,384 and Executive Schedule level I is $253,100; the statutory basis for the range is 5 U.S.C. 5382 and for the aggregate limitation 5 U.S.C. 5307. The same page states that OPM "may authorize critical position pay up to an amount equal to Level I of the Executive Schedule" under 5 U.S.C. 5377, "only in rare and exceptional cases". Performance awards and rank awards are described on that page and are not part of basic pay.

OPM's footnote on the 2026 table: "Under a provision in the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2026 (November 12, 2025), the freeze on the payable pay rates for the Vice President and certain senior political appointees continues through January 30, 2026. Future Congressional action will determine whether these frozen rates continue beyond that date."

Related

• The 2026 Executive Schedule, whose levels I, II and III set these limits.
• Senior Level and Scientific or Professional positions, which have the same 2026 range.
• The GS base table for GS-15 step 1.